Labubu mania has exploded in Hungary as well: the little monster is hanging around on schoolgirls, luxury wives and even Rihanna’s bag. The Asian toy character is enjoying a huge cultural moment, but in reality it signals dark economic trends.
The world is going crazy for Popmart’s blind box monsters: Labubus dangle from the bags of ten-year-old girls and the biggest pop stars alike. This strange creature has taken over the world with astonishing speed, but its popularity is a sign of recession, a spectacular example of the so-called lipstick effect. Labubu as a microtrend is by no means unique, but it is a very instructive phenomenon – which we have now investigated.
While a significant part of the world is becoming fascist, the living environment continues to be destroyed, and the domestic political situation is becoming increasingly turbulent, the cultural public discourse is defined by a little monster dangling from luxury bags: he is Labubu. You really had to live under a rock not to recognize the little Asian monster, who is now everywhere from Hong Kong to Alsóörs (and this is no exaggeration, he really sits among the inflatable rubber mats in the boutiques of the Alsóörs beach).
He hangs on Rihanna’s and Dua Lipa’s bags, and he also hangs on the backpacks of eight-year-old girls after they bought him at the Chinese store in Jászai Mari Square. Some find him adorable, some find him scary, or just plain disgusting, many don’t understand him, but the fact is that almost everyone knows him.
What is a Labubu plush?
Labubu is a tiny, furry monster, the work of Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung. The creature with pointed ears, sharp teeth, and a distorted grin may not seem like the most lovable creature at first glance, but there is no doubt that he is the most lucrative toy figure of our time: the original seller, the Pop Mart chain, owes him more than $46 billion in revenue, which made the store owner China’s 10th richest person.
One of Labubu’s attractions is the blind box sales method and, in connection with this, its collectibility. To obtain the coveted collection – which, of course, also includes special limited edition “secret” pieces – we have to constantly buy the boxes, and this feature also adds extra excitement and a kind of ceremony around Labubus. Just look at the creepy videos of adults almost having epileptic fits from unboxing an extra Labubu.
Another advantage of Labubu is that although it is not a luxury item, it is still a luxury expense, as it is a product of a non-essential trend. We can access it for relatively little money, yet feel trendy – which could also mean that the world of trends is finally democratizing, and fashion is now becoming accessible to everyone. However, the reality is much darker…
Labubu and the lipstick effect
The lipstick effect is an economic phenomenon that refers to the fact that in worse economic times, people tend to buy lower-priced, more affordable luxury products – such as lipsticks. These “little things” represent a relatively low entry threshold into the world of luxury, offering the opportunity for consumption and self-care within it, but without having to spend hundreds of thousands of forints on them, like on a luxury bag or designer shoes.
The stress and anxiety experienced during a recession simultaneously provide a reason to curb our spending, while we want to experience some kind of emotional satisfaction through consumption, and maintain the illusion that we can surprise ourselves with unnecessary but pleasant treasures that somehow make us feel better about ourselves.
Just think about it: lipstick is a perfect tool to cheaply, quickly, and effectively communicate our status to the outside world and that we still take care of ourselves and follow trends even in difficult times.
How much does Labubu cost?
This is where Labubu comes in. The pricing of the little monsters varies relatively widely: in Hungary, they range between 10,000 and 35,000 forints, but counterfeit Labubus have also appeared, which can be accessed even cheaper.
The industry of counterfeit Labubus has grown to such an extent that these toys have also received a separate name – they are the Lafufus, which are considered a peculiar nanotrend within the Labubu microtrend, as there are (as reported by the New York Times) those who openly like, and even specifically prefer, the counterfeit version.
Labubu is therefore a relatively cheap accessory that allows us to join a global fashion trend, add something to our clothing, and most importantly, possess the same object as Dua Lipa, Rihanna, or Kim Kardashian. And perhaps this is the key, because until now, beyond basic foodstuffs, we could probably share few objects with the biggest celebrities.
This can be an intoxicating feeling for many, but unfortunately, we are greatly mistaken if we think that Labubu will make us as big as a Birkin bag, because according to cultural analysts, it is already certain that Labubus will disappear from our lives just as quickly as they burst into the world.
Rise and fall – disposable status symbols
Beanie babies, domo dolls, smiskis… don’t blame yourself if these names mean nothing to you – previous waves of collectible figures similar to Labubu have quieted down so much that most of us don’t even remember them. The same fate awaits Labubus.
Popmart’s monsters were elevated by the TikTok generation – the Labubu hashtag alone generated nearly 1.5 million views on the platform. Thanks to Lisa from White Lotus and several other celebrities, Labubu’s popularity quickly peaked, and today it literally dangles from every second girl’s bag.
However, with cheap plastic toys like Labubu, we already know that these objects will end up in the trash sooner or later (and rather sooner than later). Not to mention that the ever-inflating bubble bursts itself, because the more common it becomes, the more it loses its value.
Labubu is therefore a disposable status symbol, a small but clearly visible sign with which we can communicate to the world that we are part of the current, trend-following community. It is a sign of belonging to a group, but the question arises – do we want to belong to a group that almost everyone, literally everyone, is a member of?
The illusion of personalisation and the punk Labubu movement
Beyond showing an important economic phenomenon, Labubu also tells a lot about the fashion industry and popular culture. Just as it functions as a recession indicator economically, it functions as a trend indicator culturally, cleverly latching onto the macrotrend of personalization.
Personalization, or making our objects more personal, has been a trend in fashion for a long time, which can probably be best observed in relation to bags.
A year or two ago, even the biggest fashion houses came out with bag charms that could be hung on bags: these are mostly outrageously expensive dangling decorations that we can put on our already outrageously expensive bags, thus making our MiuMiu, Louis Vuitton, or Chanel bag stand out from the crowd.
However, in the age of social media, trends reach the masses at an astonishing speed, so personalization can only be an illusion: we put exactly the same things on our bags in exactly the same way as everyone else. The over-decorated Prada with fifteen Labubus thus remains just as boring, devoid of any originality and thought, as if we hadn’t put anything on it.
Labubu has thus walked into its own trap, because through growth it also loses its original function, i.e., its social indicator character. Thus, in the end, nothing remains but some fur-decorated plastic in the trash, or at best, just an ugly imprint of a dark period.
This article was originally published by KD on the Marie Claire Hungary website.
Translated and syndicated for Marie Claire Nigeria by Tobi Afolabi
